Bible Readings
Reading 63: Yahweh showed the people how serious it is to violate His instructions
Read Leviticus 10:1–20.
In the previous reading, we witnessed a solemn but exciting event, the investiture of Aaron and his sons as priests of Yahweh. They were to manage the Tabernacle and lead the people in their worship of Yahweh. Yahweh had described in detail how the priests were to conduct every ritual in the Tabernacle.
Moses had clearly written down the rules and instructions and taught them to the priests. We saw how Yahweh’s instructions were very specific. He wanted to demonstrate how sinful man could only approach an all-righteous God in the way that He prescribed.
Aaron and his four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar knew what to do. But Nadab and Abihu did not take God seriously and disregarded His instructions about how to light the incense burner for the Tabernacle. They were supposed to take live coals from the altar and use those in the incense burners. But they took live coals from somewhere else instead. They ignored God’s instructions.
God’s punishment on them was swift. Though they were believers, God took their lives away in a dramatic fashion. He wanted to show the nation how serious He was about the law and instructions He had given them. As priests, they were not only supposed to teach the people God’s law, they themselves must be obedient to God.
Aaron, the father of two priests, knew his sons had done wrong and so he was silent before Moses and God. He knew God was right and just to take the lives of his sons.
This generation of Israelites, including Nadab and Abihu, had experienced God’s all-powerful nature. They were the ones who were saved from the judgment plagues that Yahweh had brought on Egypt and they were the ones who had crossed the Red Sea safely. And God had given specific instructions on how to build the Tabernacle and all the details about the priests’ clothing and their duties. Nadab and Abihu had experienced God’s character but still, they did not take Him seriously. They had such a casual and unconcerned attitude towards Him.
So Yahweh punished them. He literally put an end to their careers as His priests. The people got the message. They mourned the loss of the two men but Moses did not permit Aaron nor Eleazer and Ithamar (the other two brothers of the dead priests) to mourn. This is because holy, ordained priests cannot mourn the rightful death of their rebellious family members.
Through His actions, God also demonstrated that He does not show any favouritism. Though all of them were part of Moses’ family, God expected all of them to obey His instructions and stick to His standards.
Later that day, Moses found the remaining meat from the sin offering missing. With some of the sacrifices, God had given instructions that the priests could eat a portion of the offered sacrifice. This was how the priests were to be fed. Now, Moses learnt that all of the meat from the sin offering was burnt up. Moses wanted to know why Eleazer and Ithamar didn’t eat the meat. Aaron replied that it didn’t seem right to them to eat from the altar food that day after what happened with God’s punishment on Nadab and Abihu. Moses agreed with their answer.
What can we learn about Yahweh our God from this stark incident? Though God had saved Israel and placed them into an intimate Father-son relationship, He still had standards for His people. He expected them to obey all of His instructions. At this early stage of nation-building, Yahweh had to demonstrate that He was very serious about how His people were to live. What had happened to Nadab and Abihu would serve as an example for the rest of the nation to be serious about their relationship with Yahweh. While He is a loving God, He is also righteous and just.
As a point to note, we see that while believers are counted as righteous by God, and are in a relationship with Him, God still applies discipline and punishment when His children disobey Him. One of His tools of discipline is physical death. Dying physically doesn’t end one’s relationship with Yahweh, for there is life after physical death. Dying physically simply ends one’s mortal life on earth.
As church-age believers, we are not given elaborate rituals and rules about daily life that we have to obey. There is much freedom in Christ! Nevertheless, Jesus has standards of behaviour that He expects from us. For example, Jesus said the highest command is for us to love God with our entire lives (our thoughts, actions, words) and to love each other as Christ has loved us.
As people who have been declared righteous through faith in Christ:
Do we now take our relationship with Jesus seriously?
Are we intentional or are we too casual and unconcerned?
Do we strive to follow His instructions on how believers should live?
Let’s take some time to reflect on our lives to see whether or not we are serious about our relationship with Yahweh and are concerned about pleasing Him with our lives. And then speak to God about it.